The past few weeks have been absolute madness with getting sick and being out of commission for several days. But thankfully I have recovered in the past week and despite some personal life drama, am well on my way to being back to normal (or so I hope).
I have noticed that it’s been a while since I posted something in text on here that wasn’t a quotation so I just wanted to take a moment to update you on what I’ve been doing.
Recently I’ve been working on an article that will be published tomorrow on USA TODAY College’s website about safety precautions to take in case of a tornado as a college student. This subject is near and dear to my heart as I’m from the Joplin, Mo. area and experienced the devastation of the May 22, 2011 tornado that tore through the city up close and personal. To say that it affected my life would be a bit of an understatement.
That being said, I’m working on an article with interviews from two Joplin residents, a University of Alabama student and a source from the Red Cross about how to be prepared for a tornado. I’m also hoping to hear back from FEMA in the next few hours, or possibly bright and early tomorrow morning, about any possible suggestions they have for staying safe. Keep your fingers crossed for me!
In addition to the work I’ve been doing for USA TODAY College, I’ve also been working tirelessly at The Standard getting things ready for the Missouri College Media Awards that are coming up and producing a quality issue every week. We changed the flag recently and I’m happy to say that Michael Gulledge - our amazing photo editor - did an excellent job with it. I can only hope that it will help us on our way to Pacemaker number two next year!
In the free time I do have I’ve been doing a lot of art projects. It probably has something to do with the fact that I’ve been spending an arm and a leg buying supplies for my class, but regardless I’m really enjoying it. It’s been a long time since I was able to be solely creative and get credit for it so it’s been a nice change to begin every Monday, Wednesday and Friday with two hours of time to just draw/paint/create to my heart’s desire. Right now I’m doing two pieces in charcoal - a rose and a lily - for my class so hopefully they turn out all right. I’ll be posting pictures of my work later on in the week and you can give me the final verdict.
Finally, this weekend I am headed to St. Louis! The Missouri Valley Conference Tournament - Arch Madness - is this weekend in St. Louis and I am lucky enough to be able to go to cover it for The Standard. I’ll be leaving all of the official sports writing up to our sports editor and basketball beat writer, but I’ll be handling all of the social media for the event so make sure to check out our Facebook and Twitter pages this weekend to find out how things are going for the Bears!
